


Susie. Her name is Susie.

by NairobiWonders



Category: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (TV)
Genre: Father daughter conversation, Gen, Humor, discussions of sexual orientation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 14:16:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17448560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NairobiWonders/pseuds/NairobiWonders
Summary: It's the late 1950s and people are not quite as open about sexual preference as they will be in a few years.





	Susie. Her name is Susie.

"Midge." Abe stood in the kitchen trying to get his daughter's attention.

From the depths of the refrigerator, her voice bounced out. "I know we have pickles. I bought the pickles."

"Midge." He tried again more forcefully. 

"Dare I say, I personally picked those pickles for this very purpose ...." she smiled and gleefully basked in the refrigerator's tiny spot light. 

"Midge..." His tone turned sterner. 

"I mean, what's pastrami without a pickle? Right?" Jars clinked as she reached way to the back of the shelf.

"Miriam!"

She jumped straight up and looked over the fridge's door, "Yes, papa?"

Abe took a breath. This was going to make him very uncomfortable but he needed to know. He started slow. His hand, palm down, pushed at the air between them as if to set the statement firmly before them, a base for what would come next. "I... I am your father." 

"Yes, papa. That's why I call you papa, papa." Midge smiled. Abe did not. He squinted at her and shook his head almost imperceptibly. 

"Miriam." Another breath. 

Midge realized something serious lay ahead, no more with the jokes.

Abe tilted his head and looked pained, choosing his words carefully. "That, that little person, the plumber friend of yours ..."

"Susie, her name is Susie."

"Okay. Yes. Susie. Are you and her...." a pained sort of stalling sound came from the back of his throat as he tried to find the right words. Nothing came. He changed course. "You ... you rejected Joel ..."

"He cheated on me. He rejected me first. What does that have to do with Susie?" Midge couldn't see where her father was going with all this. It made her nervous. Something was up.

"You sent Benjamin away. A doctor! A tall, good looking, smart, funny, Jewish doctor, pfft,..." he gestured wildly. "Gone. Without a second thought."

"Our timing was off. Ben understands my career comes first right now." She was feeling attacked and went on the offensive. "You're forgetting Izzie from the third grade, I sent him packing too. And Paul, sweet, tiny, inappropriate Paul, I turned down his offer as well. Though his offer sidestepped the whole marriage thing ....randy, little goy." She looked her father square in the eye, "What are you getting at, papa?"

Abe continued as if he had heard none of what she had said, his voice filled with pseudo-sadness, "Your mother still cries in her sleep about Benjamin, she cries out softly, '... no Midge no. He's a doctor' ..." He shook his head. "Heartbreaking."

"You want me to apologize to her? Is that what this is about?" Midge put the pickles back in the fridge. "I'll go right now..."

He stopped her. "No." He summoned all the emotional strength he had, closed his eyes and came out with it ... sort of came out with it ... he just couldn't ask the question straight out for fear of the answer. 

"Are you and this Susie person, close? I mean, you know, like, like, like ..." he was stammering but he couldn't stop now. "Like, you know, I don't know, ....special friends type close? I mean the way she dresses, does she even like boys or does she prefer ... I can't take any more surprises from you Midge. This family can't take any more surprises. It's okay if you are, I just need to know. Are you and this, this Susie person ... you know ..." 

Midge stood with her mouth open. She did not see that coming. "Are you asking if Susie and I are lesbians?" To her joy, Abe winced at the word. "Are you asking if we are lovers?" He winced again and Midge wished she could come up with a third L word that would cause a similar reaction in him. The man looked miserable.

"First, it's none of your business. And second, it's none of your business but no Susie and I are not involved ... in any way. I like men. And Susie, well, to be honest, I've never seen Susie show any romantic interest in anyone, male or female."

Relief washed over Abe and he reached for a chair and sat. "Thank you."

"Would it really be so awful if we were? You wouldn't love me any less would you papa?"

"Of course not Midge. But the rest of the world, it would be difficult, so difficult to explain."

She put her hands on her father's shoulders. "It wouldn't be so difficult. You could just tell people your daughter is happy and in love and just leave out the part that it's with another woman."

From behind them came a soft whimper, a moan and a thud.

Rose lay elegantly crumpled on the kitchen floor.

**Author's Note:**

> My head canon is that Susie is aromantic. Not interested. She has enough on her plate as it is.


End file.
